THE ELECTED (Fighting Freedom Book 2)

by Paige Clendenin

  “Introductions are in order,” R. J. begins. “This is Rebekkah Jonni.” He bows to each person as he references each one. “She oversees intelligence and making sure that all things are kept calm here at The Facility.”

  “How do you do?” Rebekkah says formally.

  All members of our group grumble their greetings.

  “This is Johnathan Timothy, Vice President of The Facility,” R. J. says. “He is my little brother. Each of you as I well know, are familiar with him.” He smiles. “And lastly, these two are Chad and Amanda Likely, they are part of our Souls Council. Do any of you have any questions?”

  “What do you want from us?” Jake gets straight to the point.

  “Well,” Johnathan begins, “like I said, I know your father Elizabeth and Elious, not well, but I know him. He wrote this letter for you, and I promised I would deliver it.”

  “I don’t want it,” I blurt out.

  “Me either,” Eli exclaims.

  “Very well,” he says, pulling the note from his pocket and placing it directly in the center of the table. “At this moment, it belongs to whoever takes it first.”

  I nod, not sure what that is supposed to mean.

  “It is customary,” R. J. says, “that we allow a question answer portion at all meetings of the Souls Council. Do any of you have any more questions?”

  He looks straight at me, knowing that I must have a thousand of them in my head, but before I speak up, Zac asks the first.

  “Yeah, what is IOUSC?”

  “It stands for Inspectors of United States Conspiracies,” Rebekkah answers.

  “Now ma’am,” Zac smiles, “I may look like a little boy, but I am far from it. Don’t talk to me like I am stupid, I didn’t ask what it stands for, we all know what it stands for, I asked what it means.”

  A sort of sly smile crosses his lips. I am so proud of him. He doesn’t know it, but if these people feel a kid his age is so tough, then what must they think of the rest of us?

  “Very well,” Rebekkah retorts in a tone less than pleased. “IOUSC was an organization put together at the start of the war. It was developed to be a go between for The Elected and the people, but it didn’t ever turn out to be that way. The organization didn’t get off the ground. General R. J. Timothy, General and developer of The Force, made sure of that. No offence, sir,” she finishes the last statement while glancing at R. J. Timothy III.

  “None taken, my dear,” R. J. responds.

  “So, you have nothing to do with IOUSC?” Jake asks.

  “No,” a voice rings out, but this time it belongs to Amanda Likely. “At the beginning we acted as a go between. Well…the generation before us did, but General Timothy entered in, convincing our then president to switch allies to The Force.”

  “Why?” Leah asks.

  “Because he had ulterior motives,” Chad answers.

  “Which were?” Shawn fishes for more answers.

  “He took a mistress and they had a son.” Chad frowns. “You see, the mistress needed to be hidden from his wife. The mistress was against The Force and what they stood for, she always ran a little more on the side of The Elected. General Timothy had her moved to the IOUSC, but by then, we had been turned into a glorified refugee camp.” He pauses for a moment.

  “Get to the point,” Magi says while smacking an angry hand down onto the table.

  “The refugee camp was then named The Facility,” Amanda responds. “All hopes of IOUSC was lost on wishful thinking and bad timing, but now we work with both The Force and The Elected, seeing how they run on the same side these days.”

  “So, this is still just a glorified refugee camp?” I ask, disgusted.

  “No!” Rebekkah answers. “It started out that way, but the son of General R. J. Timothy and his mistress, turned this place around, making it a safe and loving environment, attempting to get all involvement with The Force ended. That is until things with them and The Elected became parallel and then our alliance with the both of them was forged.”

  “You call this safe and loving?” Mar asks, sounding tough.

  “We do,” Rebekkah answers.

  “We have learned how to develop technology and biological agents,” R. J. begins, “we are much more than a camp, we are anti-Force and anti-Elected, we are neither, we are other, we feel we are stronger than both combined that is why we belong to both.”

  “Pretending that any of that makes sense, what do you want from us?” Leah pipes up.

  “We know that you are soldiers, Maxwell Cole told us all about you. He and The Elected had video cameras all over The Force and knew about all your training. Robert Towers was more than willing to fill in the blanks,” R. J. finishes.

  “And I came looking for you, using Robert as an excuse,” Johnathan begins, “but in all reality, we have been being attacked as of lately by everyone not associated with The Elected, and you are our new military.”

  “Like hell we are,” Jake yells standing to his feet. “We will not fight against people who are against The Force and The Elected… People like us!”

  “Give it a few days,” Johnathan says. “Let it sink in, and then we will be talking to you again, testing you, seeing how you work under pressure… You will come to your senses.”

  “And,” I begin, “what if we don’t agree?”

  Every member of my group holds their breaths in unison. I am sure they are all thinking the same thing.

  “If you don’t agree,” Chad says, “then you will be sent back here to the Souls Council and be made to take part in The Purifying.”

  “Is there anything else?” Jake asks, ready to finish this conversation. This news has moved up our escape deadline.

  “Yes, there is something else,” Johnathan says, “Samantha King has been sentenced to The Purifying.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Currently, and to my knowledge, Jake and I are the only ones who truly know what The Purifying is. Not one single person on our side knows that Samantha has just been sentenced to death, but not one person on our side knows that Jake and I know what this means.

  “Very well,” I say, trying to sound noble like R. J. “are we done, then?”

  “We are” R. J. says. “However, we will be having one of these meetings per week to make sure that your performance is on task.”

  “And if it isn’t?” I blurt out.

  “It has already been made clear that The Purifying will be activated for each individual,” Chad answers.

  I stand up, grab the note from the center of the table, and walk out without further instructions. Mar gets up, following me out the door.

  “What’s going on, Liz?”

  “Not now,” I whisper.

  She nods her head while sticking her hands shyly in her pockets. I wish she felt as strong as I know she is. The rest of our group filters out of the room behind us along with our guards. Jake and Eli walk up to where Mar and I are walking.

  “Eli and I need to be alone,” I say with an exhausted breath.

  “I know,” Jake responds. “You know where I will be if you need me.”

  I nod my head. We walk back over the tunnel, down the steps, and into the common room. All the members of my group go into our Pod while Eli and I go off looking for some solace. We could never truly be alone with Smith only inches behind us.

  “Excuse me, Smith, but do you know of a place that is quiet?” I ask.

  “The East hall has a library in it,” he smiles.

  “Lead the way,” Eli says.

  The rest of our walk is quiet. We enter a large library with white desks, chairs, shelves, lamps, everything white. Even the books are covered in white cloth, making them look as stark as the shelves themselves.

  The titles of each book are written in gold to tell what each one is.

  Eli and I take a place at a small table in the corner, hoping that Smith takes a hint and sits on the other side of the room. He doesn’t, though; he piles into the desk next to our table, pull
ing out a small book from his pocket labeled “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He commences to reading it, leaving me to my brother with the note from Robert Towers.

  “I can read it to you if you want,” Eli says to me.

  I nod my head. I don’t know I would have much strength to do it on my own right now.

  My brother begins to read.

  Dear Elizabeth and Elious,

  My twins, my dear, sweet twins. I have missed you truly. I have noticed as of late you and your sister were taken by The Force. As you must know already, The Elected have put cameras in the compound, and as I know you also know, I am alive and well. I had taken a position in Intelligence on the board for The Elected.

  I apologize for faking my death, at the time it was the only way of protecting your mother, sisters, and you both. I was happy to have seen you become strong individuals through the lenses of those cameras. I saw you on the first day, when you took care of that little girl. I watched as you changed her clothes, shielding her from all the others. How noble. All in all, this is my I’m sorry and goodbye note.

  Eli looks at me puzzled.

  He hands me the note and I continue in his place.

  I went back to the R9 to bring your mother and Lydia away because The Elected plan on attacking small regions first, including the R9. I couldn’t let that happen to your mother and Lydia, but The Elected did not accept your mother’s feistiness, much like yours, Elizabeth, or should I call you Liz?

  They soon put her and Lydia in confinement. I helped them escape confinement and were going to leave them in the hands of a group of Voyagers when The Facility found us, they marked them as hostages of the Voyagers, and me as a traitor to The Elected. I was taken to the Souls Council where I told them about your mother, Lydia, and how you both, along with your friends, have become quite the army.

  I mean, you made it out of The Force. That was the last time I saw you. I am sorry for all I have done, and I couldn’t tell you I was one of the bad guys, but now I am here at The Facility. I thought I should tell you; I have been sentenced to The Purifying for being a traitor in the eyes of The Facility.

  Your Dad.”

  A sick feeling hits my stomach as I finish the last words. I don’t think I have one single emotion for that man left in my body, but I do have so many questions to ask him. Why did he want to save mom and Lydia after virtually killing himself to get away from us?

  “What is The Purifying exactly?” Eli asks me seriously.

  I stand up without answering his question. I walk over to Smith, catching him off guard when I push the letter against his chest.

  “Is he still alive?” I shout.

  “Is who still alive?” he countered.

  “Robert,” I squeak.

  Smith looks at the note to take a better look at what I might be talking about.

  “Why would he be dead?” he asks coyly.

  “You know why he would be dead!” I shout through gritted teeth.

  The Library guard begins shushing me.

  “Oh, shut up,” I yell at the mystery guard. He scowls at me with great hatred. “Now, tell me, Smith, has Robert Towers been through The Purifying?”

  “No,” Smith huffs, “not yet. He is due to take part in The Purifying three days from today.”

  I grab the note back from Smith, shoving through the Library guard at the door. As I leave the Library, I can feel my brother hot on my heels.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Robert Towers is going to die, for real, in three days.”

  “Huh,” Eli says clueless. “What are you talking about?”

  “He has been sentenced to The Purifying, Eli.”

  “Yes, you read that Liz, now what are you talking about?”

  “Right now, that man is the only one who could take us to The Elected headquarters once we get out of here, and he has been sentenced to The Purifying, which means death!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Eli goes quiet walking beside me. He seems to be thinking about what all of this means. I’m not sure what all this means. All I know is that no matter how I feel about Robert Towers, we may need him if we are going to escape and make it to The Elected headquarters to save Shae and Syl.

  “We need to get to Jake,” I whisper to Eli, “he will know what we should do.”

  “Wait, if The Purifying means that Dad is going to die,” Eli breaths, “that means Samantha is going to die too.”

  “If she hasn’t already,” I sigh.

  We take a right into the Pod that is now our home. Right before we enter the door, I pull my brother in close so Smith can’t hear what I have to say to him.

  “I know this is a lot to take in, but I know that Mom and Jake are working on a way out of here. R. J. says that we aren’t going anywhere, but if we could escape The Force, then we sure could escape this place.” I look around. “Don’t tell anyone besides Mar what is going on. We will have to find a way for all of us to meet soon. I love you, brother.”

  “Okay,” Eli says, looking seriously at me.

  We both enter the enormous room. Jake and Mar are waiting just inside. They both know we needed the time to read the letter, but they both also knew they would be needed when we came back. Eli smiles a bit at me before he and Mar walk into their cubby.

  Jake follows me quietly into ours. He knows when I am ready to talk, I will. Instead of telling him what is going on, I hand him the note.

  He takes the time to read it, and I allow him all the time I think he needs. I can tell when he is done, because he looks at me, laying the paper down on the bed. He doesn’t say anything for a few moments as if formulating the right thing to say. I like this the most out of Jake. Most boys or even men would spout out what they were thinking, and Jake takes his time to speak. Sometimes, this quality infuriates me about him, but now, in this moment, I am happy for it.

  “How are you feeling about this?” He finally breaks the silence.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t want him to die because he is my father, and I thought he was dead for four years…”

  “But?”

  “But, he has put us through so much,” I pause. “Jake, he was watching us at The Force. If he cares so much for us, then why would he have not stepped in to save us then?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “He doesn’t care,” I say firmly. “He never did, so why should I care that he is going to die?”

  “Because we need him,” Jake says flatly. “As of right now, we have no one to take us to The Elected headquarters. Morimoto is dead…”

  “And my map is gone,” I squeak.

  “We have three days to figure out how to get out of here!” Jake exclaims. “We have to get our guns, which your mom may know where they are keeping those. We need to get Robert, and Samantha if she is still alive, and get out of here.”

  I nod my head in agreeance.

  Over the next two days, we find ways to whisper plans in the Mess Hall, in our pod, and even in the Library that Eli and I took them back to. In two days’, time, security has dropped significantly. My guess is because the longer we are here without causing a problem, the more of a chance we have of not needing to be guarded.

  Yesterday, we agreed on one of us requesting to go visit Robert to know where we could find him on the day of our escape. Eli lost and went to visit our father last night. He didn’t want to but took one for the team. While he was in the bank of holding cells, he saw many men, women, and children being held in a section marked The Purifying T-22 hours. Samantha was among the group.

  Our only time frame to escape and obtain Robert Towers rests sometime between two a.m. and six a.m. during this night. We hold more hope with the early hours of the morning instead of the afternoon or evening when the commons are filled with souls.

  Now we are sitting in the library, pretending to read overly reproduced books, while whispering plans. Smith and one man we now know to be Burt are our only guards. They are the only two guards that stay with us in the
night too. They have bunk beds that rest on either side of the door to our Pod. I tried to sneak through to go to the restroom last night to see if I could pass, and I could, but I was spotted by another guard patrolling the large white common room.

  It took a lot of fast talking to talk my way around why I was out in the commons unguarded, but in the end, I was redirected to my pod, and everything went on as normal.

  This morning, we were pulled into a large room where we were each tested for speed, strength, endurance, fighting skills, and gun skills. We now know that Johnathan is the only one in The Facility who can sniper shoot like he does. If we could stay away from him, then we might gain the upper hand.

  I asked how he had gotten so good, and the only answer we got was he was trained outside The Facility… no specifics. I wondered if he had ever been a part of The Force or The Elected. Either one of them would have taught him how to shoot like he does. I can’t say I saw many at The Force who shot like Johnathan does apart from Jake and Samantha, but I didn’t get the chance to see many outside of my phase group shoot.

  My mother and Dia have joined in on our sessions. As much as we hate to separate, we know we must break up to get out of this place. By the end of the morning’s session, we have decided Jake and I are to get the weapons, my mother and Dia are to follow us. Eli, Mar, Shawn, and Leah are going to get Robert and Samantha. Zac and Magi are going to take the wall of offices. The only way out of here we know of is through the window in the President’s office.

  Now, we are laying still in our pod cubbies, counting the minutes to when all of this is going to begin.

  “This is going to work,” Jake whispers into my ear, while wrapping his arms around me.

  “I know you think so, and I am trying to,” I say, “but this time, we have my mom and little sister with us, and neither of them knows how to pull their own weight in a war.”

  “If they stay with us, it will be all right.”

  “I hope so,” I whisper.

  “This is nothing new to us, Liz.”